Earlier this year I reviewed Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, and I liked it enough to want to check out the movie (1940), directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Lawrence Olivier as Maxim and Joan Fontaine as his (second) wife. Although there are changes, particularly in collapsing scenes for time, the movie is true in spirit to the book, and even though I (obviously) already knew the story I still got involved with the characters.
The movie won Academy Awards for cinematography and best picture and was nominated for a bunch of others — including Olivier, Fontaine, Hitchcock, screenplay and music — so I’m obviously not the only one who got involved!
One big difference from the book came at the end, which provided a much more satisfactory conclusion for Mrs. Danvers (played by Judith Anderson, who was also nominated for an Oscar). If you loved the book and hated Mrs. Danvers, be sure to watch this movie.
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Gosh, you’re hitting all the high notes. I love Rebecca! Thanks for your review.
Have you read/reviewed this one: One Across, Two Down by Ruth Rendell? I’d be very interested in your thoughts.
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Thanks, Elli! And, no I haven’t read that and never really got into Ruth Rendell, but if you convince me I’ll try that one.
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I like Rendell very much. But this title puzzled me. And there was a lot about cross word puzzles which I’ve never been good at or understood.
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OK, I used to love crossword puzzles, so even though I haven’t done one in years, I will read it. Review, unless I hate it, to follow.
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